Category Archives: Middle East

Can Atmospheric Water Generators Resolve Egypt’s Water Crisis?

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Egypt faces an imminent water crisis which could jeopardize the country’s stability and regional dominance. Egypt is currently below the United Nations threshold of water poverty. The current water shortage in Egypt is 13.5 Billion Cubic Meters per year which is expected to continuously increase. According to hydrologists, a country is considered to be facing water scarcity if supplies drop below 1,000 cubic meters per person annually. Egyptian officials state there are currently around 570 cubic meters (150,000 gallons) of water available per person per year. This figure is expected to drop further to 500 cubic meters by 2025. The … Continue reading →

التنوع الحيوي الغابي في الأردن

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تعاني الغابات في العالم من ضغوطات هائلة, حيث أن تقلص الغطاء الحرجي في العالم آخذ في التسارع بمعدل ينذر بالخطر وبسرعة تتجاوز قدرة الطبيعة على تعويض الخسارة, إن لإزالة الغابات أثرسلبي مباشر وغير مباشر على الأنظمة البيئية مما يهدد الفائدة الإقتصادية والروحية والترفيهية والثقافية التي تقدمها الطبيعة للإنسان, ومن أكثر الآثار المدمرة هي التغير السلبي وغير الرجعي في التنوع البيولوجي بسبب تدمير الموائل الطبيعية لكثير من أصناف الحياه البرية التي تثري النظام البيئي على كوكب الأرض. إن غياب الأشجار سيؤدي إلى تدمير التنوع الجيني مما يؤثر وينتج خسارة دائمة في أنواع نادرة ومختلفة من النباتات والحيوانات والحشرات والمايكروبات. كما تعتبر … Continue reading →

Water Stress in the Mediterranean

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For many years now, the Mediterranean has been facing problems leading to a situation of serious environmental degradation. An increase in the temperature and salinity levels has been recorded during the second half of the 20th century in the Mediterranean Sea. However, this increase does not follow progressive trend and periods of temperature alternation have been observed. Following several climate change scientific reports, sea level trend at the global scale is higher than at the regional scales. Furthermore, in the regional scale there are other influence factors such the atmospheric pressure and the wind. In addition, the small rises in temperature … Continue reading →

Water Diplomacy in the Middle East for Transboundary Water Supplies

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Increased pressure on transboundary water supplies as a result of rising economic and population needs, exacerbated by climate change processes, can have catastrophic consequences in the Middle East. Management of groundwater extraction from transboundary aquifers must involve sharing the amount of accessible water and preserving its quality in order to ensure that future generations will have access to safe groundwater supplies. The Middle East is afflicted by internal water mismanagement and conflicts. This necessitates not only the building of water governance institutions but also diverse engagement platforms and other water diplomacy techniques. The negotiations about water management create the need … Continue reading →

The Effects of Waste on Palestinians’ Health And Environment

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The State of Palestine faces multiple environmental challenges, most of them linked to waste management. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) highlighted in 2020 that “47% of all waste, including hazardous waste, is disposed of in unsanitary dump sites”. The figures shared by the  Heinrich Böll Foundation in Plastic Atlas focused on municipal solid waste and underlined that 65% of the waste is disposed of in landfills and 32% in illegal dumping sites. Just 3% of the rubbish is recycled or reused. The sociopolitical and economic context of the country dominated by the occupation makes even bigger the global challenge … Continue reading →